The invention relates generally to motorized garage door opener systems. More specifically, the invention provides a mount for the drive motor in a motorized garage door opener system that isolates the drive motor from the structure it is mounted to and decreases the transmission of noise and vibration from the drive motor to the structure.
Motorized garage door opener systems are well known and in wide use. Such systems typically include an electric drive motor that drives a belt, chain, or screw linked to a garage door in such a way that driving the motor in one direction opens the door. Driving the motor in the other direction closes the door.
Such systems are popular and convenient because they spare the user the physical effort of opening and closing the door, and when used with a remote control system, the user can open and close the door without leaving his or her vehicle. Some such systems are less than ideal, though, because the electrical motor necessarily produces a certain degree of noise and vibration, and these can be transmitted to the structure to which the motor is mounted.
In most prior art systems, the drive motors are mounted on rigid metal mounting structures, which are in turn fixed securely to supporting structure, typically on the ceiling inside the garage. Vibration is transferred readily from the motor through these rigid mounting structures to the structure of the garage. This vibration can then be transmitted throughout the house or other building to which the garage is attached, which may disturb the building's occupants every time the door is opened or closed. Efforts have been made to reduce the noise and vibration produced by systems of this type—quieter motors have been used and flexible rubber or plastic belts have been substituted for rigid metal chains, for example—but in many cases more could be done.
It would be desirable, therefore, to devise a mounting apparatus that would minimize the transmission of noise and vibration from the motor assembly to the ceiling and interior of the structure in which the opener is mounted. Such a mounting apparatus should be simple and inexpensive to manufacture, install, and maintain, so as not to increase the cost of the overall system or interfere unduly with the garage door opener's ease of installation and use. The present invention provides such a mounting apparatus—one that offers these and other advantages that will be appreciated more fully with reference to the following written description and the drawings that accompany it.